49 



style of which details, in the third place, could not have been 

 developed earlier than the period of the introduction of Chris- 

 tianity. 



" 4th. The resemblance of the carved ornaments to those on the 

 sculptured crosses, and to the illuminated and embossed ornaments 

 of the early Christian manuscripts and book covers, etc. 



"5 th. The Crucifixion carved over the door of the Tower of 

 Donoughmore, which both Dr. Petrie and Mr. Du Noyer believe 

 to be of the same period as the building of the Tower. 



"6th. The use of lime mortar in their construction, the introduc- 

 tion of which art Ireland owes to the Christian missionaries. 



" The uses of the Towers these authorities also believe to have 

 been — 



" 1 st, and chiefly, Strongholds, or places of refuge, to which, 

 during those troublous and lawless ages, the ecclesiastics could 

 retreat in cases of temporary danger or disturbance. 



"2nd. Places of security for the sacred utensils and relics, 

 including the consecrated bells. 



" 3rd. During the later period, they were belfries, in which the 

 bells were hung. 



" There are numerous allusions in the ' Annals of the Four 

 Masters,' and other old manuscripts, to the destruction of the 

 Towers — at least of their floors and other woodwork — by fire, and 

 of the clergy and others who had taken refuge in them ; also, 

 some allusion to their use as belfries, which is, besides, in many 

 places, the tradition of the country. 



"Similar Towers, round or square, are found in the South of 

 France, and the Anglo-Saxons built towers not unlike them in 

 character, which may have been the type from which the round 

 church towers of Norfolk and Suffolk were derived; and it is 

 known that Irish ecclesiastics, between the sixth and the twelfth 

 centuries, carried their own type of round tower to Scotland, 

 Germany, and especially to the great Monastery of St. Gall (an 

 Irish saint), in Switzerland." 



